I met Brandi the sand sculpture queen!!

[Running Mommy]

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Ours was fabulous. It started out by meeting Ms. Brandi and her cutie pie hubby on Saturday. They are building a sand sculpture out in Laughlin NV for one of the casinos. God bless her soul! That place is the pits! It's like the poor mans Las Vegas. For the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would stay there- and neither could poor Brandi! Let's just say they are having quite an adventure!!
After we left Brandi we headed for Las Vegas. Our plan was to ride the red rock canyon. Even though Tony works in Vegas during the week, and we spend a lot of time there, we had never been out to red rock. We planned to ride Sunday morning, so saturday afternoon we drove out to check it out. This was to be SPencers maiden voyage on a road bike, so we needed to pre drive the course. The girl at the visitors center told me that the first five miles were uphill. Well we drove it and it didn't seem bad at all. The scenery was gorgeous so we were stoked for the next morning. We also decided that post ride we would go hike the red rock.
That evening Tony and I went for a run before dinner. We both felt out of breath and couldn't figure out why. The next morning we were to discover that we were at 3700+ ft elevation!! We are sea level weenies, so this was going to be interesting.
Sunday morning we start out and OH MAN!! I'm instantly sucking wind! Poor SPencer is huffing away, and Tony says he feels like he's riding in quicksand!
And then we realize that the girl was right about it being uphill for the first 5miles. We were to gain about a thousand feet in the 5 miles. Did I mention that I'm NOT a climber! We don't REALLY have hills in Phoenix...
SPencer had to stop a few times, and that was fine with me. My gps was saying that we were going from 4-8 mph. UGH! Poor Spencer finally got off his bike and started walking. I felt bad so I got off as well. I was going so slow I felt like I was going to tip over anyway. I ended up walking with him nearly a mile in my bike cleats. That was not so fun. I just kept apologizing to him and telling him that I would have never have taken him on that ride if I had known.
We finally reached the top and then had a SCREAMING downhill. Spencer took off like a rocket, Tony chased after him, and my gps was clocking 29 mph! Kids, they are fearless... Moms are not!
The ride ended on a positive note and after some cool gatorade we were ready for some hiking. We had some fun playing on the redrock.
All in all it was a great weekend! lastnight I even got to play in the casinos and we walked away with a nice 500.00 profit. Not bad for rank amatuers such as ourselves. We are NOT big gamblers.
So anyway, check out my pictures on snapfish. They include pics of Brandi and I.
Ciao bellas!
Denise
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...25/t_=49810225

[mimitabby]

oh, it wouldn't let me look at the pictures!

[Running Mommy]

Hmmmm... Try photobcuket...

http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...9/Misc%20pics/

[snapdragen]

"Roadie in Training" is an adorable picture!

[Zen]

That's one slick little dude with his too cool jersey, gloves and glasses...
Those photos look like the were taken in the afternoon, I'd love to be out there around dawn or sunset.

[tprevost]

WOW! Great Pics Denise... and Spencer looks adorable

[Mr. Bloom]

Too cool! Looks like it was a good day!

[Running Mommy]

Zen- the ride started around 7:30, and we were done hiking and out of the park by 12:30 pm. I was starting to overheat so we packed it in. I wanted to hike to the petroglyphs but it wasn't to be. Next time I guess.

[cosc]

Wow, I so enjoyed your pics. Yes, Spencer looks like he is having the time of his life with the broad smile.

[HillSlugger]

Cute kid. He looks so happy and pleased with himself.

[SJCzar]

Nice pictures.

I did that ride a week ago and you described it well. It doesn't look so bad until you get pedaling. I was huffing and puffing most of those first five miles. I did have to get off to catch my breath a few times. I was beginning to wonder why I was killing myself on vacation but than the downhill was awesome. Not to mention the spectacular views.

[Jo-n-NY]

RM...Your post and pics brought back wonderful memories. I was in Vegas a few years ago with my dh and brother. We rented bikes just a few miles down the road from Red Rock. Road that wonderful stretch of a road to RR then of course through Red Rock. I knew what the grades were before (I forget now) but I thought we were just not use to climbing hills as we were huffing and puffing also. Your post put another whole prespective on our ride. I did not know about the elevation change or never paid attention to it. Coming from Long Island, needless to say we are very much at sea level also.

We also ended on a postive note. The down hills at the end felt great and I could have ridden that stretch of road back to the bike shop forever.

Also...how great to meet Brandi and her husband. Their work is truely amazing!!!!

~ JoAnn

[fatbottomedgurl]

For Christmas my husband gave me a weekend at the dude ranch in Blue Diamond and we were going to mountain bike Red Rock. But my car accident cancelled those plans. Your pictures are sooo beautiful. I must get there when my back is better. Maybe in the fall.

Elevation is fun, isn't it? We rode at Mammoth Mountain last year, (I think it starts at 8,000 feet). Our climbs were slow but I am used to riding up trails at 2 mph! I guess that's not acceptable on a road bike?